While the prior art does contemplate the general concept of a writing instrument having a magnification lens affixed thereto it is submitted that the arrangements contemplated are either impractical, lack functionality in everyday use, or do not adequately lend themselves to be used in conjunction with an ordinary writing instrument design.
A listing of patents which may be of some pertinence to the present invention include:
______________________________________ Patent Number Inventor(s) Date of Issue ______________________________________ 1306203 Tippit 06/10/1919 1353279 Schulthess 09/21/1920 1479885 Appler 06/08/1924 1658499 Stevens 02/07/1928 2172597 Simpson 09/12/1939 2234942 Nichols 03/11/1941 3343292 Jorgensen 09/26/1967 4044889 Orentreich et al 08/30/1977 4398800 Hayes 08/16/1983 5074695 DeRosa 12/24/1991 5309643 McCollom 05/10/1994 5358297 Coleman 10/25/1994 5412199 Finkelstein et al 05/02/1995 5491589 Haymond 02/12/1996 5608203 Finkelstein et al 03/04/1997 Des 275,401 Henkels 09/04/1984 ______________________________________
U.S. Pat. No. 4,398,800 teaches a "Magnifying Device for a Hand Held Implement" which includes a magnification lens configured to communicate with the body of the device, the lens affixed via ball joint connection to allow same to be positioned in the vicinity of the writing tip of the device, so as to allow the user to view indicia on a surface adjacent to the writing tip.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,643 teaches a rectangular lens situated in proximity to the tip of a writing instrument, to allow the user to view the paper or other surface in communication with the writing tip.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,234,942, 2,172,597, 1,479,885, and 1,306,203 teach various magnification lens built into the body of the writing utensils, although these lenses are fixed in place, unlike the searched for invention.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,074,695 and 5,358,297 teach magnifying glasses pivotally engaged to a pen and a set of tweezers, respectively.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,412,199 and 5,608,203 teach credit cards having fresnel lens built in, to allow the user to read a line of text on a paper or the like.
While the prior art does contemplate the general concept of a lens affixed to a writing utensil, it is submitted that the teachings do not teach or suggest, alone or in combination, the teachings of the present invention.